Apparatus for use in handling ferrite cores



Dec. 27, 1966 D. PILSETNIEKS 3,294,393

APPARATUS FOR USE IN HANDLING FERRITE CORES Filed Feb. 4, 1964 INVENTOR. DZ/DR/S P/LSET/V/EKS A T TORNEY in the top surface of the plate.

United States Patent 3,294,393 APPARATUS FOR USE IN HANDLING FERRITE (IORES Dzirlris Pilsctnieks, Cherry Hiil, N.J., assignor to Burroughs Corporation, Detroit, Micln, a corporation of Michigan 7 Filed Feb. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 342,424 7 Claims. (Cl. 269-305) This invention relates to apparatus for supporting work pieces and, particularly, to apparatus for supporting small cylindrical articles during the performance of manufactun ing operations thereon.

The present invention is particularly adapted for use in handling small-diameter toroidal elements such as ferrite cores of the type used in magnetic core memory planes. A memory plane comprises an insulating plate which carries a large number of toroidal cores which have several wires threaded therethrough. During the manufacture of such memory planes, it is necessary to hold the cores on a suitable support while they are threaded by the wires.

It can be seen that the supporting of a large number of very small cores in a critical orientation is a problem of considerable magnitude.

This problem of supporting toroidal cores has been solved in many ways. In one arrangement, the industry has employed a metallic plate provided with a large number of slots and apertures, with pins being inserted in the apertures to define areas in the slots for receiving and supporting toroids. Apparatus of this type is satisfactory for many applications. However, as ferrite cores have become smaller and smaller in diameter and the spacing between the cores has become smaller, the apertures and pins required to define core-receiving areas in a metal plate have become prohibitively small.

Accordingly, the objects of the present invention concern the provision of improved apparatus for supporting toroidal elements during manufacturing operations, with the apparatus being usable with cores of substantially any size and diameter and with substantially any desired spacing between cores.

Briefly, the apparatus of the invention comprises a plate having a top surface which is provided with a first group of horizontal slots which are spaced apart parallel to each other. Another group of vertical slots are provided similarly oriented and spaced apart parallel to each other.

The horizontal and vertical slots define small square areas A first group of slots, oriented at a 45 angle to the horizontal and vertical slots, is provided in the surface of the plate. The slots in this group are oriented parallel to each other and spaced apart so that each square area on the surface of the plate is divided into two equal portions. A second group of slots is provided perpendicular to this first group and suitably spaced apart, again, to divide each square area into'two equal halves. A fine wire is placed in each slot of the first and second groups, and where these wires cross the horizontal and vertical slots, they separate these horizontal and vertical slots into a plurality of recesses for receiving core elements.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of the apparatus of the invention and associated apparatus with which it is used; and

FIG. 2 is a sectional view along the line 22 in FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawing, apparatus embodying the insurface of the plate 20.

3,294,393 Patented Dec. 27, 1966 "ice vention and adapted for handling a large number of toroidal magnetic cores comprises a plate 20 of metal, plastic, or the like which has a top surface 24. According to the invention, the top surface of the plate is provided with a first group of horizontal slots 30 which extend across the top surface a suitable distance to satisfy the needs of the invention. The horizontal slots are spacedapart parallel to each other. The surface is also provided with a group of vertical slots 34 spaced-apart parallel to each other. The horizontal and vertical slots are interrelated in such a way that they define square areas in the top surface 24 of the plate 20. The slots 30 and 34 may be as narrow as it is possible to make them.

The top surface of the plate 20 is also provided with two additional groups of slots. One group includes slots 40 oriented at a 45 angle to the horizontal and vertical slots and having a positive slope, and the other group includes slots 44 oriented at a 45 angle to the horizontal and vertical slots and having a negative slope. These slots pass through the junctions of horizontal and vertical slots, and they divide the square surface areas into equal halves. The slots 40 and 44 are intended ultimately to hold toroidal cores, thus they are made sufiiciently wide to receive the intended cores.

If space permits, the plate 20 is provided with holes 68 which extend downwardly through the plate 20 from portions of the slots 40 and 44 which are intended to receive cores. The holes provide means for applying suction to the cores to hold them in place during the performance of assembly operations.

To use the plate 20 in handling toroidal magnetic cores, a length of wire 50 is positioned in each of the first and second groups of slots 30 and 34. With the wires 50 thus positioned in the slots, it can be seen that the sloping slots 40 and 44 are subdivided into core-receiving recesses 54, with the spaces between wire cross-overs each defining a recess. The cores 64 are inserted in these recesses in any suitable manner.

According to one method, a relatively large quantity of cores is deposited on the surface of the plate, and agitation or vibration of the plate 20 causes the cores to fall into the apertures. Suction applied to holes 68 facilitates this operation. The depth of each core-receiving recess 54 is such that, when a core 64 is seated in the recess, a portion of its surface projects above the top After the desired number of cores have been provided in the recesses in the plate 20, any desired procedure may be followed to assemble the cores into a memory plane. If the recesses are sufliciently shallow so that the aperture in each core is accessible, the required wires may be threaded through the cores and then the assembly of cores and wires would be transferred to a suitable insulating plate to form the completed plane.

Alternatively, an adhesive sheet supported on an insulating plate might be pressed into contact with the array of cores held on the plate 20 so that each core adheres to the sheet. After the cores have been transferred to the adhesive sheet, the desired wires can be threaded through them and secured to the insulating plate.

What is claimed is:

1. Core assembly apparatus comprising a plate having a plane top surface,

a plurality of horizontal and vertical wire-receiving slots formed in said top surface and defining a plurality of generally rectangular areas oriented sideby-side in rows and columns and corner-to-corner in positive-slope diagonals and in negative-slope diagonals,

a plurality of first parallel, postive-slope core receiving diagonal slots extending along said positive-slope diagonals of rectangular areas and bisecting said rectangular areas by passing through opposite corners thereof, said positive-slope diagonal slots being spaced from each other by an amount equal to about the diameter of a core to be carried,

a plurality of second parallel, negative-slope core-receiving diagonal slots extending along said negativeslope diagonals of rectangular areas and bisecting said rectangular areas by passing through opposite corners thereof, said negative-slope diagonal slots being spaced from each other by an amount equal to about the diameter of a core to be carried, and

wires positioned in said horizontal and vertical slots surrounding said rectangular areas and forming intersections at spaced intervals along said positive-slope and negative-slope diagonal core-receiving slots, said intervals being equal to about the diameter of a core to be received, each core being held in place in an interval by said wire intersections.

2. The apparatus defined in claim '1 wherein the arrangement and spacing of said diagonal slots are such that adjacent retangular areas in each row have their corereceiving slots and their cores oriented at about 90 to each other.

3. Core assembly apparatus comprising a plate having a plane top surface,

a plurality of slots formed in said top surface and defining a plurality of horizontal rows of distinct square areas in said top surface,

a diagonal slot formed in each square area and extending from one corner to a diagonally opposite corner in each square, the diagonal slots in adjacent areas in each row being oriented at about 90 to each other,

and a fine wire positioned in each of said plurality of slots surrounding each square area and delimiting the ends of each diagonal slot whereby the length of each diagonal slot is defined and the diagonal slot can receive and hold in place a body having the general shape of said diagonal slot, said wire means being in contact with the ends of said body positioned in said diagonal slot and thereby co-acting with said diagonal slot to hold said body in place.

4. Core assembly apparatus comprising a plate having a plane top surface,

a plurality of horizontal and vertical wire-receiving slots formed in said top surface and defining a plurality of distinct square areas in said top surface,

two diagonal core-receiving slots formed in each square area, and oriented perpendicular to each other, each diagonal slot extending from one corner to a diagonally opposite corner in each square, auxiliary horizontal and vertical wire-receiving slots in each square area subdividing each square area into four smaller square areas and subdividing each diagonal core-receiving slot so that the distance from the center of each square area to a corner thereof along a diagonal slot is equal to about the diameter of a core to be seated in the diagonal slots,

and a flexible fine wire removably positioned in each of said wire-receiving slots with said fine wires intersecting each other at the ends and centers of the diagonal core-receiving slots, the intersecting wires thus defining two core-receiving chambers in each diagonal slot.

5. Apparatus for use in assembling small-diameter toroidal elements comprising a plate having a top surface, a plurality of parallel horizontal wire-receiving slots, and a plurality of parallel vertical wire-receiving slots formed in said top surface of said plate,

said horizontal and vertical slots defining a pattern of rows of square areas on said surface of said plate,

a plurality of continuous parallel first diagonal slots oriented at a 45 angle to said horizontal and vertical slots and having a positive slope and dividing a plurality of square areas into substantially equal halves, said first diagonal slots being spaced apart by an amount equal to about the diameter of a toroidal element to be held therein,

a plurality of continuous second parallel diagonal slots oriented at a 45 angle to said horizontal and vertical slots and having a negative slope and dividing a plurality of square areas into substantially equal halves, said second slots being spaced apart by an amount equal to about the diameter of a toroidal element to be held therein,

and a fine wire embedded in each of the horizontal and vertical slots so that a fine wire surrounds each square area and delimits the ends of a diagonal slot which is thus adapted to act as an article-receiving recess, said first and second diagonal slots being arrayed so that, in each row of square areas, said first and second diagonal slots alternate with each other and toroidal elements held therein are oriented at an angle to each other.

6. Apparatus for use in assembling small-diameter toroidal elements comprising a plate having a top surface, a plurality of parallel horizontal slots, and a plurality of parallel vertical slots formed in said top surface of said plate,

said horizontal and vertical slots defining a pattern of square areas on said surface of said plate,

a first plurality of parallel diagonal slots oriented at a 45 angle to said horizontal and vertical slots and having a positive slope and providing a first diagonal slot in each square area,

a second plurality of parallel diagonal slots oriented at a 45 angle to said horizontal and vertical slots and having negative slope and providing a second diagonal slot in each square area,

the first and second diagonal slots in each square area being oriented perpendicular to each other and extending from one corner to the diagonal opposite corner in each square,

and a fine wire embedded in each of the horizontal and vertical slots and enclosing each square area and delimiting the ends of the diagonal slots in each square area, the diagonal slots thus each defining a plurality of article-receiving recesses.

7. Core assembling apparatus comprising a plate having a plane top surface,

a plurality of continuous first core-receiving slots oriented parallel to each other and spaced apart a distance equal'to about the diameter of a core to be carried therein,

a plurality of continuous second core-receiving slots oriented parallel to each other and at an angle to said first core-receiving slots and spaced apart a distance equal to about the diameter of a core to be carried therein,

a plurality of continuous first wire-receiving slots oriented parallel to each other and at an angle to both said first and second core-receiving slots,

a plurality of continuous second wire-receiving slots oriented parallel to each other and at an angle to said first wire-receiving slots and to both said first and second core-receiving slots,

said first and second wire-receiving slots forming intersections along the length of each of said first and second core-receiving slots, the space between adjacent intersections comprising a core-receiving chamher,

a wire embedded in each of the wire-receiving slots so that said wire surrounds and delimits the ends of said core-receiving chambers,

each core-receiving chamber havinga length equal to about the diameter of a core supported therein be- 5 6 tween the two intersections so that a core held therein References Cited by the Examiner has a portion of its surface rising above said plane UNITED STATES PATENTS surface of said plate, the arrangement of all of the slots in said surface being such that said core-re- 1,439,815 12/1922 Haugh 269-289 ceiving chambers are arrayed in rows and columns 5 2,573,087 10/1951 Youngblood 269305 with each chamber in a row or a column being 2,961,745 11/1960 Smith 29155.5

oriented at an angle to the chamber adjacent to it whereby adjacent cores in said chambers are oriented HAROLD D. WHITEHEAD, Primary Examiner. at an angle to each other. 

1. CORE ASSEMBLY APPARATUS COMPRISING A PLATE HAVING A PLANE TOP SURFACE, A PLURALITY OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL WIRE-RECEIVING SLOTS FORMED IN SAID TOP SURFACE AND DEFINING A PLURALITY OF GENERALLY RETANGULAR AREAS ORIENTED SIDEBY- SIDE IN ROWS AND COLUMNS AND CORNER-TO-CORNER IN POSTIVE-SLOPE DIAGONALS AND IN NEGATIVE-SLOPE DIAGONALS, A PLURALITY OF FIRST PARALLEL, POSTIVE-SLOPE CORE RECEIVING DIAGONAL SLOTS EXTENDING ALONG SAID POSITIVE-SLOPE DIAGONALS OF RETANGULAR AREAS AND BISECTING SAID RETANGULAR AREAS BY PASSING THROUGH OPPOSITE CORNERS THEREOF, SAID POSITIVE-SLOPE DIAGONOL SLOTS BEING SPACED FROM EACH OTHER BY AN AMOUNT EQUAL TO ABOUT THE DIAMETER OF A CORE TO BE CARRIED, A PLURALITY OF SECOND PARALLEL, NEGATIVE-SLOPE CORE-RECEIVING DIAGONAL SLOTS EXTENDING ALONG SAID NEGATIVESLOPE DIAGONALS OF RETANGULAR AREAS AND BISECTING SAID 